


Young

by icameheretowinry



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-26 08:03:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13853499
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/icameheretowinry/pseuds/icameheretowinry
Summary: At a military ball, a conversation with Roy leads Ed to believe as miserable as things have been, he's been quite lucky.





	Young

“Fancy seeing you here, Fullmetal.”

The fading familiarity of the name still managed to tug his gaze over his right shoulder. Roy approached him slowly, as if the air around his tall, dark frame was somehow thicker than the rest that filled the airy, gilded ballroom. A languid smirk slinked across his lips. 

“General,” replied Ed evenly, “Major.” 

“Oh, Edward,” scolded Riza as she emerged characteristically from behind her superior, “Enough with the formalities already!”

She dismissed his politeness with a large swoop of a white-gloved hand. 

“Right,” remarked Ed stiffly while working a finger between his white dress shirt and illy-knotted tie that fixed to his neck like a vice, “I believe, Mustang, that I was just as much invited as you were.” 

Riza’s chocolatey eyes drifted lazily up towards Roy’s as she leaned against his left arm, “What’s got him in such a sour mood? We’re at a ball aren’t we?”

Ed glanced past his former commanding officer to the couples still twirling on the dance floor; the men clad in their military blue and the women in gowns of every shade of gold. Throughout the evening, his and the newly-minted general’s black suits floated through the room like beckoning storm clouds on the horizon of a sunny day. Then again, neither one of them was known for their subtlety. 

Yet, he said nothing as he watched Roy rigidly side-step to the right, testing Riza’s champagne-addled balance. 

“A drink, Fullmetal?” asked Roy as he gestured quickly to a waiter bearing a tray with glittering flutes of champagne. His voice was high and tight. 

As Ed reached reached towards the tray, a telltale flicker of recognition crossed Riza’s gaze, and she made quick work of disappearing into the crowd. Before the pair could speak, Roy downed the entire flute and quickly replenished it with another. 

“I’m more of a whiskey man myself,” he admitted with a grin, the iciness fading as quickly as it had come. 

“Same here,” replied Ed before taking a large sip, “Although, this isn’t half bad.” 

The conversation lulled as they unconsciously swept the ballroom for their missing partners amongst the sea of gold and navy. 

“How’s Yuriy?” asked the older alchemist suddenly. 

Ed coughed as he struggled to clear the last gulp of the drink that lingered in his throat. 

“Amazing, really!” beamed Ed, a smile quickly infecting his expression, “Only ten months old and already walking and talking quite a bit!” 

Roy didn’t reply.

“He can thank his mother for his brain. Unfortunately, he looks just like me!” continued Ed with a laugh. 

Yet, eventually, the general’s silence weighed upon him. 

“Mustang?” inquired Ed, the crease between his brows growing deep. 

“That’s wonderful, “ his voice barely above a whisper as he still searched the dance floor. 

And for the first time, Ed noticed the ghosts of crow’s feet near his eyes and the whisper of gray in his ebony hair. 

“It doesn’t have to be—“

“We— I have decided that other things, like the fate of this country, are more important,” Roy said sternly, “The major agrees.” 

Ed hung his head. 

“There are rules that must be followed,” he continued as he reached for a third flute. 

He paused as Ed met his gaze, “And sacrifices we must make. You, of all people, should know that.” 

The younger alchemist nodded, but didn’t reply. 

“Truth be told, Ed,” Roy said as his gaze finally fixed upon Riza weaving between the remaining dancers, “the thing I most envied about you was your youth. How much time you still had to make the right decisions.”

“What could you possibly mean!?” gaped Ed, “I’ve done nothing but make the wrong decisions…”

Roy smiled as Ed couldn’t help but notice Winry reappear near the mahogany bar in the corner of the ballroom. 

“Not all of them.”

Without another word, he downed his last flute of champagne and disappeared into the melodic fray. 

“I’ve been looking for you forever!”

Ed spun around to see his wife standing behind him, a fresh whiskey clutched in her gloved fingers. 

“I certainly hope that’s for me,” he teased, noting the rosy hue that infected her cheeks. 

Ed gently plucked the tumbler from her fingertips as the notes of the night’s last song curled through the air. He gasped as Winry pressed herself up against him. 

“We should dance,” she whispered, burying her face in his neck. 

Even after all the years spent together, Ed felt his cheeks grow crimson. 

“Do not— tempt me…”

She drew his right hand to the small of her back. The fabric of her silken dress felt cool under his touch. His gilded eyes darkened with desire. 

“Oh, please, Ed!” she whimpered, “It’s just one dance.”

“Winry, you’ve had a bit to drink, and I think it would be best if we just—“ 

His words withered when he allowed his gaze fixed to the ballroom doors. Roy and Riza paused only briefly before exiting as customary; Riza two steps behind, and a little to the left. To the untrained eye, a couple of weary strangers with coincidental timing. 

Without a word Ed deposited the tumbler on a nearby table and pulled Winry into a gentle twirl, and the music followed them until the last aching note. A flash of gold on the coattails of the night.


End file.
